Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

First of four in the Bronx

The most critical juncture of the season to this point is officially underway, with the Sox playing the first of four in the Bronx.

Hideki Okajima to the DL? It might sound mean to say, but that can’t hurt the Red Sox. He has a .350 opponents batting average this year. Felix Doubront, who has just one Minor League relief appearance under his belt, can not be worse. If anything, maybe the downtime will allow Okajima to get hismelf healthy and effective again when he returns.

While the perception of the Red Sox is that they’ve become plucky underdogs with all the injuries, manager Terry Francona made it clear today that the team still has very high expectations, injuries or no injuries.

It was mentioned to Francona today that he has kept upbeat despite all that has gone wrong. He doesn’t know any other way to be.

“You know what, I think the players deserve for us to show up and be optimistic,” Francona said. “Some days, you lose a tough game, you [still have to] show up the next day. I don’t think it does anybody any good to show up with your tail between your legs. We want to have an atmosphere where players want to do the right thing. So I think we need to do that too. I think it also helps when, the way our guys are going about their business, we, as a staff, enjoy it. We’ve made some mistakes. I think our room for error is a little less now with some of our guys being hurt. That doesn’t mean we can’t win. it doesn’t mean guys aren’t trying. I think we’re trying to embrace the challenge as opposed to whining about it.”

Yes, Francona says, his team has had a consistently strong resolve. But that is not the only goal.

“I think we’ve pulled together,” Francona said. “We’re not in first place. This is not where we want to be. But we’re trying to be. I’ll let you know that at the end of the year. We’re giving our best. Our goal is to win. we’re not where we want to be. I don’t think that means we can’t be. We’ve got a long road ahead against some really good teams but we’ll see how it goes. But it is fun. The challenge is fun.”

Can something be gained out of this season even if the Sox don’t make the playoffs? Francona wasn’t in the mood to go there.

“We’re at August [6]? I can’t answer how I’m going to feel on October first,” Francona said. “That would be crazy. We’re going to play until they send us home. I hope it lasts a long time. Nobody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next day as we’ve found out. I guess my point was, the guys in the clubhouse have done a really terrific job of trying to do the best they can. We’ve had some games that aren’t too pretty. We’ve not always been perfect. We’ll see if we can be good enough.”

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40 Comments

Their are a lot of proud individuals on that team. Injuries or no injuries, that is how it goes at times. Perhaps the motivation for this Red Sox team ( other than being a professional athlete ) is proving people wrong! You go with the guys that are healthy and ready to go, if you feel sorry for yourself, your done like dinner! I think playoffs or not for the Red Sox this season,Francona should be a slam dunk as manager of the year! Francona has no clue where that panic button is located because the guy never ever panics! To me that is where it all starts, the “leadership” in that dugout. Most teams with injuries like this would have been done long ago.

The toughest stretch of the season by far, the next (10) games are on the road and the trip ends in that Texas heat. Personally I think Boston will win tonight, lose tomorrow, win on Sunday but Monday afternoon will go ??????? All I know is the Yankees really miss Pettitte.

Well, Dave, you (and we) got your wish. The Sox played their hearts out and showed a lot of guts, and Buch got ya another win! Way to go, Buch! Sorry, Dave, you were wrong– no sweep. ;) GO SOX!
By greg1969 on August 7, 2010 12:07 AM

Greg and Craig,
I am SO happy to be wrong on the sweep but today is NOT good. C.C., one of the best arms in the game vs. Lugo Lackey…ya well I wouldn’t bet on it but if Lackey wants to prove his Julio Lugo waste-of-money salary was worth it, then he’d better show it today.
We also need Ellsbury to finally get a HIT. An automatic out is not needed. I know the press has been all over Ellsbury but I think he made the right decision. He’s plays WAY too hard to play hurt. If it was Drew, Drew can play with a missing arm and we wouldn’t see a difference in performance.
Finally, I am so #$#$ sick of errors on the Red Sox side and seeing Scatterthrow (Scutaro) and Bellugo (Lugo Beltre) topping the list doesn’t excite me. It also doesn’t help to see poor throws from pitchers throwing out runners at first base. Little leaguers have a better skill set so can we fire Farrell and hire the local little league coach in Boston?

The real heros of the Sox’s win (other than Bucky’s strong outing) were Cevelli and Granderson. Cevelli’s error contributed to 3 unearned runs. The Sox were up 4-2. The turning point of the game was Granderson’s GIDP with runners on 1st and 2nd and none out. Without those 2 big plays by the Yankees, Papi’s and Kalish’s HRs would be meaningless.

Sorry Dave. Scutaro’s error was harmless which was erased by Granderson’s DP ball (Lowell, Scutaro DP). Forgot to mention Scutaro’s 2 run double. Bellugo will continue to make fielding and throwing errors which will be forgiven by strong pitching and or made up by his subsequent blast or a defensive gem in the same game. Go Sox. Go Lugo Lackey.
P.S. Ellsbury is an automatic out at the plate. But his driving and running grabs who knows how many runs were prevented.

This is great. Even with all the injuries and ill fortune the Sox have had this year, they are within spitting distance of first place. If they can get into the post season it will be the Miracle in the Fens. They’ll make movies about it.
GO SOX!!!!

Boy, every time I start to count the Sox out, they just pick themselves off the mat, dust themselves off, and get back to it. They looked so putrid vs. Cleveburg Weds pm, and then came back Thurs. and again last night. Imagine how good they are going to look with Petey back at 2nd base.

I’ve got to say, I like the entire starting staff, but Clayboy and Dice-K are just chugging along. The starting staff can minimize the bullpen dilemma if they keep taking their starts into the 8th inning, and hand the game over to Bardie and Pap. I just hope that John Farrell can help JonL better handle the little bumps in the road that seem to get JonL off kilter. He really is one of the very best lefties in the majors, but I think at times allows little quirks to get him off the tracks. Come on Farrell, do your magic.The Sox team ERA has been slowly but steadily dropping, and is now 4.12, with Clayboy 2nd in the league in indvidual ERA, and Jon L 8th, even after several substandard starts. There are only 4 AL pitchers with more wins than Clayboy, only 6 with more wins than JonL, who is also 3rd in the league in K’s. If JonL can rip off several wins in a row, he could get himself back into serious Cy Young consideration, not counting Clayboy out.

Go Sox, make this a magic weekend start to a magic road trip. Once you get home from Texas, you’ll have 24 of your remaining 43 games in the Friendly Fenway Confines. One has to wonder what else Theo has up his sleeve for September call-ups. Obviously, DelGado is likely to be a September call-up, as well as Michael Bowden. I don’t think we have seen the end of Theo’s manipulations…all without costing the Sox Casey Kelly, Ryan Kalish, Tony Rizzo, Felix Doubront, Jose Iglesias or any of their other prime prospects. Imagine if Theo had allowed himself to be talked into the trade that would have caused Mikey L to wind up in NY 10 days ago. Sometimes, the best trades are the ones that you don’t make!!!!

Are you getting ready for the U? LOL! The Canes and the Buckeyes, I’m going with Ohio State in that one. Props to Ohio State and Miami having enough balls to schedule that game. Alabama is the team to beat but it is sure tough to repeat, in any sport on any level.

I’m not sure if I agree when you said ” Dice-K is chugging along”. He did pitch well on Thurs. night but was less than stellar last Sat. against Detroit. I have no idea what anyone will see when Dice-K is on the hill. He has the ability to shut just about any team down but he also can do the total opposite. For example… Almost a no no in Philly but the start before he got shelled in N.Y. and blamed Martinez.

Beckett looks like he is raring to go and perhaps he’ll be very fresh coming down the stretch. Not sure what’s going on with Lester but I agree with you 100% when you wrote about Lester allowing little quirks to get him off the tracks. He reminds me of Mike Mussina in that regard. That is when a pitcher needs to buckle down even more when things don’t go your way. Don’t let the little things get to you out there on the mound. That all being said, Lester will turn it around and that will happen on Monday afternoon. Let me chime in and talk about Lackey and his free passes that are killing him this year. Throwing strikes has been his major problem in year #1 with the Red Sox. I don’t know if that has anything to do with pitching in a tough division like the A.L. East as opposed to the A.L. West. I’m not sure if Lackey could even answer it because if he could, he wouldn’t be given out those free passes.

Ramiro Pena with 2 R.B.I.’s. Are you kidding me? Granderson hasn’t done much this year with the Yankees but is doing well today. Get beat by the best, not by the bottom of the barrel.

Boston let Sabathia off the hook, it was obvious he was fighting himself early in this game. The hefty lefty found his groove and looks strong out there. I think Lackey’s day is coming to a close. Another lackluster performance by Lackey, not the outing Boston was looking for from him today.

It’s good to see Lowell producing, he also looks good at first. Another poor throw by Scutaro, I’ve seen that several times this year. Still not sure why Gonzalez wasn’t brought back for a salary around 3 million or so.

Theo still needs to add another arm to this pen. I assume the price for a bullpen arm will go down as the month gets deeper. Wagner was added to the mix in late August last year.

Let’s hope Boston can take advantage of this leadoff walk issued by Sabathia here in the top of the 7th.

So who needs A-Gonz when you have ScatterThrow out there?
.
So who needs a great starting pitcher when you have Lugo Lackey? Glad we dumped all types of money on him to ensure that nobody in their right mind will want him!
.
Theo, time and time again makes poor choices, overpays waste-of-time players and dumps excellent players. Why Dustin Pedroia wants to play in this atmosphere is beyond me but I admire him.
I will give Theo credit for not giving up on Clay who IS the ace of the team. Of course had we kept Masterson, he would have been 10 times better than Lugo Lackey. If I’m frustrated, forgive me, for Elmer Fudd has more brains than Theo “Lugo” Epstein.
Sox gave it away today. As BoSoxBrian predicted, this was a giveaway game with two sloppy errors by the team. If Lester can’t hold it together on Monday the Yanks can write off the Sox this year especially if Beckett can’t do it tomorrow. Tough series and the Yanks made it look easy today.

Bosox…Since you’re a great baseball fan, I thought you’d appreciate this….We had a prospect make his major league debut today, 24 yr old, J.P. Arencibia, a catcher…JP hit .303/.360/.639 with 32 doubles, 31 hr’s and 79 rbi’s in 95 games in AAA and was called up to replace Buck who went on the DL..

Today, JP hit his 1st hr on the first pitch he saw in the majors. He followed that with a double, single and a 2nd hr, which has never been done in modern era ( 1900) major league history. Others have had 4 hits or 2 hr’s but no one has ever had both. He also set a MB debut record for 11 total bases, scored 3 times and drove in 3…..

But, I’m sure what will give you a smile is believe it or not, when he came to his 5th at bat, the crowd were on their feet cheering JP, JP, JP, something no one ever thought would be cheered in the Rogers center..lol

I watched parts of that game yesterday, Toronto jumped all over Shields. A lot of first pitch fastballs went for H.R.’s. The H.R. Arencibia hit was a first pitch fastball. That’s the second time that has happened this year, Daniel Nava jumped on the first pitch he ever saw in the big leagues and he hit a grand slam off of Blanton.

I wasn’t watching when the JP chants were going on but as you say, nobody ever thought that would be cheered in Toronto. I’ve heard the old Jays g.m. on E.S.P.N. and he doesn’t sound all that bad. J.P. did do some good stuff up there but overall not very good.

With Cito retiring, who will be the Jays manager next year? Any names being tossed around? I thought when the season started, Toronto would finish just below .500 but I don’t see that happening. Safe to say they’ll finish above .500 and at the moment Boston is still closer to Toronto than T.B. and N.Y. I don’t think many Red Sox fans realize that. I’ve mentioned that to some of my friends and ” they say really”. lol.

LugoLackey struggled. But 2 runs ain’t enough to beat the Yankees assuming Bucky or Beckett was on the mound. The Sox have to play to win. No such nonsense as resting the regulars day game after a night game. I am referring to tomorrow’s day game. Poor Lester. What’s Sox’s day game record? Ryan Kalish has to play everyday against a LHP or RHP.

The Red Sox are 12-18 in day games, 51-30 at night ( best in baseball–just read on Boston.com ) I think Francona didn’t have many if any options in yesterdays game. What did the two lefties do against Sabathia? I’ll answer that for you, Drew and Ortiz went a combined 0 for 6 with 4 k’s. Bottom line in yesterdays game, Lackey somehow someway needed to match Sabathia yesterday and we all know the answer with that one. Personally I would have liked to seen Kalish in l.f. yesterday. He’s one of the top prospects the Red Sox have so you might as well put him in their against one of the best and see what happens. That all being said, Kalish wouldn’t have been the difference yesterday. Lackey was signed to a 5 yr. contract worth 82.5 million dollars to pitch in important games like yesterday and he did what we all expected! Boston had a chance to gain some ground but failed to do so. You can’t let chances like that pass you up.

Tonight is obviously Beckett’s biggest test since he came off the D.L. His last start was excellent but remember it was against the Tribe, in other words a lineup of outs. So far Burnett has had a poor season but he has thrown some gems in N.Y. against the Red Sox.

Craig,
I would LOVE to take credit for that but I believe Greg came up with that one.
Ellen,
Knowing Theo, we’ll HAVE Lugo next year with a raise and we’ll trade him for Dustin Pedroia. I wouldn’t put it pass that Elmer Epstein.
Here is my theory of next year. We trade away Dustin Pedroia, Jacobe Ellsbury, Clay Buck and get Julio Lugo, Dennis Eckersley and Jim Rice.

Burnett can be good and can be very bad. Hope the bad Burnett shows up tonight. A “bad” Beckett can’t be worse than LugoLackey. Lackey was band but not horrible yesterday. The Yanks’ bottom third of the lineup did the damage to Lackey. The 4th and 5th runs scored were after 2 outs by walking Swisher to open the flood gate. Ryan Kalish has to play everyday period. If physically able Ellsbury (for defense) and Lowell (unless they brings up Delgado) have to play everyday as well.

Don’t ask me why but my post got erased. Anyway…let’s try again.
Craig,
Greg gets full credit for ScatterThrow. I probably would have picked scuttlebutt but ScatterThrow works so much better.
Ellen,
We are not done with Lugo. I wouldn’t be surprised if Elmer Epstein trades Dustin Pedroia for Lugo with a big raise.
Andrew,
You are right about Lugo Lackey. He wasn’t half bad but at this level, you can’t be half bad. You have to be great, especially since Lugo Lackey is paid so much money.
Finally, next two games go to the Yankees. Beckett will fall apart and if he doesn’t the bolt-pen will take care of the rest.
Lester has to get his act together but he’s probably putting too much pressure on himself.

I’m with everyone regarding Kevin Cash. He should be watching this game not playing an important role in this game. The “best” lineup for the Red Sox tonight would be Martinez behind the plate, Lowell at first base and Lowrie at second. If Francona doesn’t think Lowell can play first base just about every game, then Theo should snag LaRoche from Arizona.

Burnett was a late scratch so that means Boston will face the immortal Dustin Moseley. For a team that has a payroll in the range of 213 million dollars, the Yankees have a lot of holes. Namely starting pitching and their pen has some weakness as well. T.B. showed everyone today what their issues are. Braden tossed a perfect game against them earlier this season, E. Jackson threw a no no against T.B. and Morrow was oh so close today. Allowing his first hit with 2 outs in the ninth and it was just out of the reach of Aaron Hill. T.B. has a lot of holes in that batting order, Longoria and Crawford are the only real threats in that T.B. lineup. Not to mention that Niemann and Davis went back to the Tampa area to get their shoulders checked out. The dog days of August are upon us, injuries are starting to hit other teams as well.

This is arguably the most important series for the Sox this season and Tito has Martinez at first, Cash catching and Hall at second. I can live with Hall at second although I think Lowrie is a better choice. But Martinez is a defensive liability at first and Cash has been horrible behind the plate. He has a ton of passed balls. Why would Tito do that given the choice of having Lowell’s bat or Cash’s bat in the lineup? Am I missing something here. I don’t want to hear this needing a day off crap. Both Lowell and Martinez have had more time off than either of them wants or needs. Lowell is a very capable first baseman. Short and simple, he’s a ballplayer.

I’m not worried about Ellsbury. He’s hit some balls hard and he’s going to hit. His presence in center field inspires a lot more confidence in the defense too.

I think it’s a sad state of affairs that Tito can’t find it in himself to put his best team on the field. I know he’s a good “big picture” guy, but the picture is getting smaller. The Sox have ground to make up, and not much time in which to do it. Every game is critical and tonight’s game even moreso with Tampa’s losing this afternoon. It’s called opportunity, and when you get opportunity, you have to take advantage of it.

Why is Cash up with the Sox and Saltiamacchia down on the farm? Is he hurt? He can at least hit a little bit. Cash can’t hit or catch. Now that I’ve said that Cash will end up some kind of hero tonight….Dave…can you come up with a name for Cash? Like “Bounced Check” or something? Go Sox!!!!

With the B team against the hard hitting Yankees, Uncle Tito may be thinking that the strong pitching from Beckett may overcome the deficiency. Tito may be saving the A team for tomorrow’s day game against Hughes.

One suspicion I have is that Beckett may have something AGAINST V-Mart. I mean when Jason was healthy Beckett got Jason. Somehow I get the feeling there is some bad blood between V-Mart and Beckett. Nevertheless, if that is the issue, Beckett needs to get over it. If Tito just uses this as a way to give a catcher a day off, this is also not the time.
If the Sox blow this weekend then they can forget about October. This is the most important series of the year and so far, we look like Homer Simpson and Ralph out there. I also have a problem with Lowell out of the lineup. I also have a problem with Lowrie NOT in the lineup. Tito is thinking like Lugo Epstein today.

GSJays, congrats to your new hitter, Arencibia. That was impressive to watch, even on highlight reel!
Craig and GSJays, Salty, to my knowledge, is still a bit of a reclamation project. For a while, he could not even get the ball accurately thrown back to the pitcher’s mound after a pitch. (Part of what I meant by Salty’s “regression”). I don’t know if that is still a problem, but that is not exactly what we want to reckon with if we are playing the Yankees. I hope so, as he was a promising player when he was with the Braves. I am not so sure anymore.
Go Josh! GO SOX!

I also agree, it is just as well that Oki is on the DL. He was far from effective all year. I don’t know if (a la Dice-K) there is something wrong we don’t know about, but he might as well be on the DL right now.

This will be Becketts 4th start since coming off the D.L. Cash was behind the plate only one time previous and that was Becketts first start ( at Seattle ) From what we have read/heard their was some sort of issues between Martinez and Beckett last year. I don’t believe that is the case this year. I assume when Varitek does return we’ll see Varitek behind the plate when Beckett is on the mound. I agree with you 100% if Francona is using this lineup to give Martinez a night off, this is not the time. If the Red Sox had some games in hand, I wouldn’t have a problem but obviously they don’t.

Moseley had a very easy first inning. Just once I would like to see Ortiz go the other way. Why keep hitting into the shift???

The media keeps talking about A-Rod and his 600 H.R.’s. Personally I don’t see him in that “elite” club. He is a known cheater and we don’t know how many of those H.R.’s are legit. A-Rod will have a very difficult time getting into Cooperstown. I’m not sure who A-Rod is dating but he seemed to do really well when he was with Kate Hudson. I hope he doesn’t go back to Kate Hudson.

Sometimes with pitchers like Beckett, you have your chance early to knock him around. If you don’t do anything while that opportunity knocks, you might never get those chances again. A-Rod and Cano come up with R.B.I. chances and both fail. Great job by Beckett. When Beckett is on, he’s one of the best in the game.

We certainly are making Moseley look like a genius out there, and Girardi for putting him on the mound tonight. We have made a habit this year of making rookies and reclamation opponents look like All-Stars.

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